ABSTRACT Bio‐inspired optical neuromorphic systems are a frontier in developing high‐speed, low‐energy visual intelligence processors. However, conventional electrical synapses face challenges like high energy consumption and photoelectric conversion bottlenecks. Here, we discuss leveraging ferroelectrics to realize all‐optical synaptic devices as an innovative path toward zero electrical energy brain‐like computing. Optical pulses can generate the non‐volatile bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE) and light‐induced polarization switching, inducing ferroelectrics to generate non‐equilibrium photogenerated carrier capture and release to achieve synaptic current. This signal directly serves as the post‐synaptic potential without external bias, simulating synaptic behavior. As the entire process is driven solely by light pulses, eliminating complex electrical interconnects and write operations, it removes Ohmic losses and static power consumption, achieving zero static power for information storage. These all‐optical synapses are anticipated to overcome the “power wall”, providing a possible solution path for addressing the huge energy consumption problem caused by the explosive growth of current artificial intelligence computing power demands.
Wu et al. (Wed,) studied this question.